August 9, 2023

August 9, 2023

ESPN Bet to launch in November

Jay Snowden, president and CEO of Penn Entertainment, confirmed that ESPN Bet will go live in November this year.

Penn and sports broadcaster ESPN’s transformative $1.5bn deal will consist of Penn relaunching its existing Barstool Sportsbook as ESPN Bet.

Off the back of the deal Penn is divesting its Barstool Sports sportsbook brand and selling it back to Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool.

Snowden confirmed the month for launch on Penn’s earnings call today, following the publication of its second quarter results.

When the deal was announced yesterday, Penn said the launch had been set for “the fall”, with no specific details as to when.

On the earnings call, Snowden skipped around the month with “sometime this fall” and “certainly before Thanksgiving” before landing on November.

Snowden defended the timing of the launch amid claims it would come too late in the NFL season.

“I think our launch in November is good, because it won’t get lost at the beginning of football season,”..

August 9, 2023

Online growth drives Lithuania H1 gambling revenue up 21.5%

Gambling revenue in Lithuania increased 21.5% during the first six months of 2023, driven by growth within the country’s online gaming sector.

Gross gaming revenue for the first half in Lithuania was €108.5m (£93.5m/$119.2m), up from €89.3m in the same period last year.

Of this total, €72.2m was attributed to online gambling, a year-on-year rise of 31.5%. The remaining €36.3m came from land-based activities, up 4.6% on the previous year.

Online slots lead the way in Lithuania H1

Breaking down this performance, €45.5m of all online gambling revenue came from category A slot machines. This was 37.5% higher year-on-year.

A further €1.8m in Lithuania was generated from online category B slot machines, up 28.6% on 2022.

Internet sports betting revenue climbed 12.4% to reach €19.0m in the first half. In addition, remote table games revenue was 71.4% higher at €6.0m.

Slower growth in land-based sector

Turning to Lithuania H1 land-based gambling, category B slot machines were the main ..

August 9, 2023

Stats Perform scores extension to Premier League rights data deal

Stats Perform has secured an extension to its exclusive official rights deal with Football DataCo (FDC), which manages data for the English Premier League and other major British competitions.

Under the deal, Stats Perform will continue to collect detailed event data at all major English and Scottish football leagues. The agreement runs to the end of the 2024-25 season.

This includes England’s Premier League, Championship, League 1 and 2. The deal also covers all leagues overseen by the Scottish Professional Football Leagues, including the Scottish Premiership.

The deal covers player tracking data, AI-powered insight data and player market data. This will be collected and distributed through Stats Performs’ Opta brand.

Stats Perform will distribute data to media and broadcast outlets, sportsbooks and fantasy sports operators. The agreement also covers providing data to professional teams around the world.

“At Stats Perform we are committed owners of our large, deep Opta football ..

August 9, 2023

Jackson highlights scale, product as profit drivers for Flutter

Peter Jackson, CEO of leading online gaming conglomerate Flutter Entertainment, highlighted the business’ scale and subsequent ability to invest in its products as being behind its crossing of the profitability threshold.

In H1 2023, the Flutter reported profitability on both a US and group-wide basis. In the company’s earnings call, Jackson highlighted the business had previously expected 2023 to be the year in which the threshold was met.

“I think it’s important we remember the context a few years ago,” Jackson said. “We knew this year would be the tipping point, we reached that milestone earlier because the business is bigger than we anticipated.

“We knew this year would be profitable, we’ve proved the model works, we will continue to acquire and invest in as many companies as we possibly can.”

Jackson emphasises the importance of scale

The executive emphasised Flutter’s size, revenue and market share as the business retained its title as the largest online gaming business in t..

August 9, 2023

Flutter’s US business reaches “profitability inflection point” in H1

Flutter Entertainment has revealed its US business reached a “profitability inflection point” during the first half, with CEO Peter Jackson describing the period as “pivotal”.

Group revenue was up 41.9% in the six months to 30 June, while net loss also flipped to a profit. Much of this, Flutter said, was down to the performance of its US segment, namely the FanDuel Group brand.

Since taking ownership of FanDuel in May 2018, the brand has gone from strength to strength. FanDuel has moved far from an initial daily fantasy sports offering to now deliver sports betting and online casino in states across the US.

FanDuel investment coming in H2

US is Flutter’s star performer in H1

A strong six months for European operations

Australia disappoints

Working down the balance sheet

FanDuel US listing nears

Flutter CEO: Profits will fuel H2 investment for FanDuel

With CEO Jackson revealing that the US business took on more than two million new players in the first half, there is little ch..

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Daily Archives: August 9, 2023